Burning the candle at both ends is dangerous...eventually you get burned. I slathered Silvadene all over my ego and am feeling somewhat better.
Intellectually, I realize that I'm trying to do too much - mother, wife, blogger, beader, friend, teacher, physician. I can't do any of it well.
Something had to go. I gave up my scheduled lectures to the medical students. Yes, I'll miss it, but it's one "extra" that I could easily shave off the to-do list. I'll still have first and second years working with me now and then, so it'll keep me connected to the university.
Meanwhile, the house is a disaster. When I get home, I'm too tired to tackle the piles of stuff everywhere.
My colleague said it best: I need a wife. Do you think Husband would mind?
One of the top "gunners" in my med school class was a lesbian who had a wife. I remember hearing some of the other women in our class grumbling about it once - "Sure, *we* could study 12 hours a day too, if we had a wife!"
ReplyDeleteI think one of the grumblers in question was a divorced mom, and the other was the primary caretaker for her elderly parents. At the time, I felt a bit amused to hear these straight women wishing for wives, but in retrospect it seems a bit more poignant.
Perfect follow-on to the last post. When I was midst my PhD studies, one of the faculty, near my age, comparing herself to the chair of her dept and the guy who held her career future in his hands, also complained that she "needed a wife" in order to achieve tenure. MWAS has to make some choices.
ReplyDelete"I wish I had a wife" is like my catchphrase. Whenever I'm sick, nobody takes care of me... in fact, I still am working AND taking care of baby. If I had a wife, I suspect I'd get taken care.
ReplyDeleteNot to brag, but I have a "wife" - yay! It's our nanny, Kelli, who takes care of the kids, cleans, even cooks for us! She comes as early as we need her and keeps the kids as late as we need. She was originally our daycare provider, and when she approached me with this idea, she described what she would be offering. I said exactly this "oh my god, you'd be like my WIFE! I need one badly!"
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